Song Gongming Fights a Great Battle at Dulu Mountain; Lu Junyi’s Troops Are Trapped in Qingshi Valley

There is a poem: Do not rely on a little cleverness and recklessly show off your strength; Good and ill fortune in this world have their fixed measure. Xie Xuan knew how to seize the moment and rout the enemy; Zhao Kuo could only read his father’s books on war to no purpose. The Song troops inside Qingshi Valley were like wild geese stranded on the sand; The Liao people in Youzhou were like fish swimming in a cauldron. Losing troops and generals is truly shameful; The Liao ruler would soon be taken in a prisoner’s cart. Now to tell the story: This Commander He was named He Chongbao and was deputy commander under Commander-in-Chief Wuyan of Liao. He was one zhang tall, strong enough to match ten thousand soldiers, and knew sorcery. He wielded a three-pointed, two-edged saber and was at that time guarding Youzhou and commanding the troops of various routes. He memorialized to the Liao king: “In our Youzhou region there is a place called Qingshi Valley. Only one small road leads into it, and it is surrounded on all sides by high mountains with no other way out. I will......